The Orange Coconut blog

Orange Coconut Ltd. is currently a dormant company. We’ve all had a fantastic time running our post production and tape recycling business and have learnt a huge amount about running a small media business. We are all taking this valuable experience into our new roles around the UK. Nick is now lead editor at Edit works Scotland, Tony is working for BECTU and Gary has an editing role for BBC Wales. We’d like to thank everyone who gave us support in the early days and all our clients and friends who continued to ask for our help and experience to produce top quality telly and films.

Orange Coconut has now ceased it’s videotape evaluating service for customers. We still advocate the use of evaluated videotape and it’s obvious environmental benefits not to mention the cost saving. EMS has now taken over this service form Orange Coconut and will be more than happy to discuss your media requirements. See our tape page for more details.

Many broadcasters now ask production departments to make an environmental audit of their programmes Media Greenhouse can help you to monitor and lower your CO2 emissions.

Thanks to every-one who said “hello” and watched my presentation at BVE on Wednesday. Hopefully you’re all clued up on video codecs now? If not why not drop us an email and I’ll send you a copy of my presentation and a short paper all about current video codec theory, all for free! What excellent value. This is a link to the EBU R132 document I mentioned ‘Signal Quality in HDTV Production and Broadcast Services’. Enjoy!

Orange Coconut will be attending the BBC North Sustainable Production Trade Fair at Quay House, Media City, Salford. The fair starts at 12:00 on Wednesday 20th February. We will be bringing a selection of our evaluated tape stock and if you leave a contact address or business card with us we will enter you into our draw to win a box of 40 minute HDCam SR tapes worth £240. Please pop along to see us and have a chat about our process, we’d love to see you!

Well 2012 ended as a very busy year and 2013 is looking to be the same! We worked on Strictly Come Dancing and the 3D version of the Queen’s Christmas broadcast. The new year has started with a winter Barker for BBC HD, and a cookery pilot for Goggle Box Entertainment. Nick has started work on BBC’s Eggheads, but as the lead editor for Editworks Scotland. He has stood down as a director of Orange Coconut to enable him to take on this exciting role in Glasgow. We all wish him the best of success and look forward to hearing his tales of adventure over a pint.

Tonight (Friday 2nd March) is Disco night on BBC4. If you watch ‘Disco at the BBC’ you’ll see yet another Orange Coconut programme cut by Nick. If you want to see what Gary has been up to why not watch this Landing Party Video – Behind the Scenes made by our technology provider Atomos.

We have used these tiny HD cameras to great effect when filming concert footage. They are great for a bird’s eye view of the drummer.

Have a look at GoPro’s own videos if you don’t believe us! James May even sent some into space.

We have been so impressed with them that we have become an agent. We are offering a celebratory promotional price on all the HD2 camera kits (HD HERO2 Outdoor, Motorsports, & Surf Editions) which are rrp £299.99 for only £269.99.

We understand that the Sony manufacturing plant is starting production of HDCAM SR stock, however all of the first batch is destined for North America and it is highly unlikely that supplies to Europe will be back to normal until February 2012.

We have a limited number of SR tapes including a small batch of new 33 minute tapes. We like most suppliers have no 64 minute tapes at the moment. You could however present your 60 minute programme in two parts. Or why not have your used SR tapes serviced by us for reuse? We can even archive (to file) material on the tapes freeing them up for reuse.

Since HDCAM SR uses the same width of tape as standard definition, technology has been pushed to its limits to accommodate the high definition signal, leading to the same issues that were applicable to D3 tapes, which, in their day, were also pushing the technology envelope.

This means that all elements in the editing system need to be as good as possible, from correctly lined up machines to the highest possible quality tape.

Using Oranges Coconut for tape evaluation also means that all fully evaluated videotapes are guaranteed to perform without failure on their first pass through video recording equipment.

In the unlikely event of any videotape supplied by Orange Coconut failing to meet this performance standard, it will be replaced like-for-like free of any charge, subject only to the customer’s commitment to return the defective tape for technical assessment.

During this period of HDCAM SR tape shortage, Orange Coconut will be donating a percentage of the cost of each HD tape sent in for evaluation to the Japan Tsunami Appeal; please consider donating to this fund administered by the Red Cross.